Directional motion of evaporating droplets on gradient surfaces

Evaporation of sessile water droplets on surfaces with wettability gradients was studied. The wettability gradient was generated by fabricating non-uniformly distributed cylindrical micropillars on silicon surfaces. During the evaporation, it was found that the center of mass of the droplet moved either in or against the direction of the wettability gradient, depending on the configuration of the micropillars. An energy-based theoretical criterion was derived to predict the moving direction. The theoretical predications agreed well with the experimental observations. The results provide a parametric design basis to control the contact line dynamics and directional transport of evaporating droplets. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4742860]